Newcastle University

Careers and Employability

Graduate destinations vary hugely. Many graduate schemes are not degree-specific but having a business-related degree helps our graduates gain opportunities in accounting, financial services, human resource management, marketing, sales, retail management, IT, and many other fields. Some of our graduates use their specialist skills for example in economics and statistics. Many of our graduates work in the private sector, others in the public and voluntary sectors, while some start their own businesses.

The key message is that degrees in business equip you for an extremely wide range of jobs, whilst providing you with useful skills and knowledge.

We have an excellent record of graduate employability that is consistently above the national average.  You can see a detailed breakdown of our graduate destination statistics and a list of job titles and employers by degree programme on the Careers Service website.

Developing core skills

In the course of your degree you will have the opportunity to acquire the skills that employers look for from graduates, such as teamwork, planning and organising, initiative and innovation.

Your degree programme will help you develop skills in many areas, although it is important that you also take advantage of the many other opportunities offered.

Undertaking summer internships and particularly 12-month placements, gives many of our students an edge when it comes to securing the top graduate jobs. The University’s award-winning Careers Service can help you to make the most of your skills and to find the best opportunities.

The Careers Service

Whatever your ambitions, values, degree subject or stage, the award winning Careers Service exists to help you make the most of your unique skills and experiences. Whether that is a graduate career, going on to further study or starting your own business, we offer a range of support to help you realise your potential while you are studying and for up to three years after you have graduated.

You can drop in and see an Advisor without an appointment between 10:00am and 4:30pm, Monday to Friday or email careers@ncl.ac.uk to contact a member of the team. Our one-to-one advice service enables you to weigh up all the options and assess the best ones for you.

Sessions in the Business School

• Rachael Roberts and Clare Gordon the careers advisers with responsibility for students in the Business School, run career management sessions for each stage. Full details of these will be sent to you via email, and promoted widely in the School.
• Topics covered in the sessions include developing your skills, making yourself more employable, practical help with finding placements and other work experience opportunities, options with your degree, deadlines and processes for applying for graduate jobs and postgraduate courses.

Information

There’s lots of information on different occupations and employers on the Careers Service website and in the Careers Service, which will give you an idea of the opportunities out there. Staff are always available to help you make the most of this information.

Developing potential business ideas

If you wish to generate or develop a business idea, you can have access to a team of business start-up advisers, creative thinking space and office facilities within our Elevator and lots more. There are also a range of activities on offer to develop your enterprise and entrepreneurial skills, including the Rise Up Pitch.

You can drop in for a chat with one of our business start-up team, Monday through to Friday between 10:00am and 4.30pm. Depending on what stage your idea is at, we can also arrange a longer appointment with one of our Rise Up Team to help you explore and develop your idea further.

Getting experience and credit towards your degree

Gaining skills and experience in addition to your degree gives you a real edge at the end of your course, so it’s worth thinking about ideas early. Details of many work experience opportunities are on our website and staff can help you find more specific openings. You can gain credit towards your degree and work experience by completing the Career Development Module; Help out in a local school, the community or the University, get involved in starting your own business, or use your part-time job to build up a bank of skills that you can put on your CV.

Gaining skills

We run workshops on enterprise, entrepreneurship and employability throughout the year in which you can develop related skills. These skills are vital whatever you decide to do. For details, see our website and also have a look at the NCL+ site for ideas about where to gain skills during your time at Newcastle University.

Networking

Networking may sound scary, but it is all about making contacts and can give you a real head start from working out what to do, to getting support and advice for a business idea.

The Careers Service offers a number of opportunities to start making contacts:

• ‘Graduate Connections’ is an online database of over 600 graduates now employed in a wide range of jobs and professions. You can read profiles or even contact them directly to get first hand information, advice and insight about the work they do and how to get into a profession.
• ‘Career Insights’ events feature speakers who are in different roles within a particular sector. They give an overview about what they do and then are available to talk informally to individuals. For dates, times and details see our website.
• Networking events run throughout the year and provide an opportunity to meet with new and established business entrepreneurs. For dates, times and details see our website.

Part-time and temporary jobs

We advertise part-time, temporary and vacation jobs that you can fit around your studies with employers in the Newcastle area. For more information about these opportunities visit our website.

Graduate vacancies

Regional, national and international employers come to the University throughout the year to give presentations and attend recruitment fairs to talk about their organisations, jobs on offer and how to apply successfully. For details of these events and current graduate vacancies see our website.

Making applications

We run workshops throughout the year which cover all aspects of applying for jobs, from writing your CV to participating in assessment centres. You can also get personal advice and feedback on your CV, job and further study application forms, covering letters, interviews and business-related applications, on any weekday without an appointment - just come to our reception at level 1 in King's Gate any time between 10:00am and 4.30pm, call us on 0191 222 7748 or email us at careers@ncl.ac.uk.